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Welcome to the Vesper Stamper Illustration Newsletter!

Oh MAN! I can't believe it, but we made it through the spring and halfway through the summer. How are you keeping your cool?
For me, I kept steady by overhauling my garden and helping tend some beauty—literally taking time to stop and smell the roses.
And—and I got chickens. Yes, I did.
Whatever you've done to adapt through this time, I tip my hat to you. Truly. Even, and especially if, it does include livestock. But on to the NEWS!

ONE MONTH UNTIL RELEASE!

A Cloud of Outrageous Blue is available NOW for pre-orders wherever fine books are sold (and, of course, I always recommend supporting your local indie bookstore first, especially now).

I could never have predicted it when I started writing Cloud three years ago, but this book about the Great Plague of 1348 has a lot of commonality to this bewildering year of 2020. We've faced immense loss from the pandemic we are in right now. We are grasping to understand the meaning of love and forgiveness in the face of our own history and relationships. Civil unrest has us wondering how to move forward, and we are watching as fear and anxiety threaten to take over and rob us of hope.

Friend, I want to offer A Cloud of Outrageous Blue as a companion to you at this time. Edyth's story will resonate with you and the readers in your life as she goes through similar struggles, as the world did during one of the darkest times in human history. Her journey of self-discovery and creativity in the face of fear will inspire you to look for the hope in your own situation. Maybe—just maybe—a renaissance is just around the corner.

Booklist says in their ⭐️STARRED REVIEW⭐️ of A Cloud of Outrageous Blue:
"The book—told in Edyth’s first-person voice—is beautifully written, richly imaginative, and graced with fully realized characters...
As in What the Night Sings (2018), Stamper illustrates the story, making it a feast for fans of historical fiction with a magic twist."

THE LATEST VESPERISMS PODCAST!
We're 8 episodes in to Vesperisms: The Art of Thinking for Yourself! I am loving hearing from my listeners about their artistic processes, and how their creativity is taking on new meaning at this time. This latest one is on "final work"—artistic action—and how you know when you're really done with a piece.
I also recommend the interview with my friend and storyteller, Will Ford III, on choosing the storyline we want to be part of as a culture: the healing or the hurt; the blessing or the curse.
Subscribe wherever you love to listen to podcasts. I recommend Apple Podcasts, and YouTube (if you want to see my face move).

LAST ARC GIVEAWAY!
Head over to my Instagram @vesperillustration to enter for the last Advance Reader Copy before Cloud is released in less than a month!

BOOK AN AUTHOR VISIT? YES.
Whether it's online or (hopefully soon!) in-person, you can book an author visit with me for your high school, middle school, university or other cultural setting by contacting Christie Hinrichs at Authors Unbound. Online events this spring have actually had the advantage of hosting more people and giving room for more interaction than any of us thought. So contact Christie and let's set something up!
We will meet again, and it will be so sweet.

Thanks, everyone! There's MUCH more to come in the next newsletter, which will come your way when A Cloud of Outrageous Blue releases on August 25!

Your support means the world to me as an author-illustrator, at this time and always.
Feel free to pass this newsletter on to a new subscriber, and stay safe and strong!